By June of 1973, an important
part of the high command of the Armed Forces of Chile had lost respect
for the legally constituted government. As a result, they played a deliberative
role within the military. These officers learned that, by exerting pressure
as a group, they could achieve such things as changes in the military's
high command and an increase in the Armed Force's budget.(1) And a few
days before June 29th, a conspiracy against the civilian authorities was
discovered in the Santiago Garrison of the army. The commander of the garrison,
General Mario Sepúlveda Squella, informed his immediate superiors
and José Tohá, the Minister of Defense. The latter went public
with this information on the afternoon of June 28th, and nine people involved
in the conspiracy were arrested.(2)

But early in the morning of the following day, the gates
of the barracks of the Second Armored Battalion in Santiago opened and
a column of sixteen armored vehicles emerged, including tanks. This
force, plus eighty soldiers, was led by Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Souper,
who had just learned that he would be relieved of his command for his part
in the conspiracy. The mutinous column rapidly made its way to the center
of Santiago and encircled the presidential palace, La Moneda, and the building
housing the Ministry of Defense, just across the Plaza de la Libertad.
Two minutes before 9:00 AM it opened fire on these symbols of the constitutional
government.(3)

At the Ministry, a tank made its way to the main entrance,
climbed the steps leading into the building after obliterating a utility
pole, and with its guns began an intense attack on the Ministry's offices.
Sargent Rafael Veillena, of the Army's Second Division, was killed when
he looked out a ninth floor window. The firing of machine guns and
tanks panicked the workers and employees who in the early morning of that
day had made their way to their jobs in the center of Santiago. Some men
and women ran in fear, others threw themselves to the floor seeking cover.
A woman who worked at the State Bank in Banderas Street was killed, as
well as a couple who were strafed by machine-gun fire at the corner of
Moneda and Agustinas Streets. At least sixteen people were wounded there,
four of them seriously.(4)

Immediately after these initial events, Sepúlveda
called the commander of the Military Institutes, General Guillermo Pickering,
requesting his support to suffocate the rebellion. After securing his adhesion
Sepúlveda called General Carlos Prats with a plan to neutralize
Souper's rebel force. Prats approved it without delay, and a few
minutes later Sepúlveda had made the plan operational, deciding
which units and miltary schools would act, from which directions they would
converge on the center of Santiago, where they would position themselves,
and what they would do.(5) In the meantime Prats went to the nearby military
regiments around Santiago to secure their support against the mutiny.
But after confirming the cooperation of the "Tacna" Infantry Regiment,
the General encountered resistance from the officers at the Junior Officers'
School. One of them, a major, claimed that he did not want to fire against
fellow soldiers. Another officer mentioned that his brother was a
soldier in the rebellious Second Armored Battalion. Prats would have none
of it. The insurrectionary movement against the constitutional government
had to be routed, he insisted. And as the Commander in Chief of the
Army of Chile, he expressed his position as an order. After a brief
moment of indecision among the officers, they decided to support the efforts
of their commander. Soon after 10:30 AM, combat-ready units of the
School joined the mission against the rebels.(6)

Earlier that morning, from the presidential residence
at Tomas Moro in Santiago, Salvador Allende had spoken to the people of
Chile. In his 9:30 AM radio address, the president announced his unequivocal
decision to defend the constitutional government against an attempted coup
d'etat. He called upon the workers of Santiago to occupy the factories
"and be ready in case it is necessary to fight alongside the soldiers of
Chile."(7) Now, as Prats drove his car toward La Moneda, he was thinking
that it would be logical to suppose that the Second Armored Battalion was
not acting alone. That other military units were either taking part in
a putchist conspiracy or, at least, were waiting to act until they had
seen the initial results. Prats therefore decided to use all the resources
available to him to crush the rebellion before noon.(8)

At the corner of 18th Street and O'Higgins Avenue, Prats
got out of his car carrying a Thompson machine gun. A large number
of people had congregated nearby, nervously watching the movement of troops.
When Colonel Julio Canessa arrived with forces from the Junior Officers'
School, Prats ordered that the pieces of heavy artillery be deployed along
the Avenue. Then he took what he subsequently called "a calculated risk,"
deciding to speak directly to the mutinous soldiers in an effort to convince
them to give up their fight. By taking this course of action, Prats sought
to prevent a long confrontation and unnecessary military and civilian casualties.(9)
According to Prats's later account: "I then decided to advance in the company
of Lieutenant Colonel Osvaldo Hernández, Captain Roger Vergara,
and First Sargeant Omar Vergara. Extremely moved, Villaroel, the Military
Chaplain, gave us the last absolution."(10)

At 11:10 AM, the three men walked along Alameda Avenue
carrying assault weapons. When they reached the corner of Alameda
and Teatinos Street, they were within steps of Tank E-2814.(11) The commander
of the tank trained his machine gun on the group but did not fire. Prats
ordered him to come down, identify himself, obey his orders, and surrender
to the soldiers of the Junior Officers' School.(12) According to the account
of a journalist watching the events nearby, "the soldier came down, stood
at attention before the general, and saluted. That tank would not
again fire against the Ministry of Defense or La Moneda on that morning."(13)
Prats successively repeated these orders to the other tanks and combat
vehicles located south of the Palace.(14) Then he reached a tank from which
a soldier shouted: "I will not surrender, General!," while pointing his
machine gun at Prats's group. Suddenly, Major Osvaldo Zabala sneaked
up on the threatening soldier from behind and put a gun to his temple,
thus disarming him and bringing the tense standoff to an end.(15)

A few of the tanks fled rather than surrendering, however,
after reinforcements from the "Buin" First Infantry Regiment arrived at
the scene. This military unit, led by none other than General Augusto Pinochet,
quickly deployed its cannons and machine guns.(16) The last rebelling unit
to flee was a group of tanks and military vehicles stationed north of La
Moneda. As this convoy fled south down Teatinos Street, Prats was
able to see Roberto Souper, "who looked disoriented and lost." Immediately
thereafter, Prats entered the palace and ordered that the buildings nearby
be searched. Then, as he walked to his office at the Ministry of Defense,
he was joined by General Pickering and Minister Tohá. Pickering
had meanwhile cleared the rebels out of the western sector of Morande Street,
near the presidential palace.(17) By 11:30 AM, the shooting around La Moneda
had subsided and the coup attempt appeared to be over.

Souper surrendered later in the day, after units of the
Tacna regiment encircled and fired on the Second Battalion's barracks,
where he had taken refuge. During the evening, President Allende addressed
a massive demonstration of support for the constitutional government in
front of La Moneda. As he neared the end of his speech, he said:
"...trust your government. Go home and kiss your wives and children
in the name of Chile."(18) It was soon discovered that the main leaders
of the extreme right-wing group, Fatherland and Liberty, had been the instigators
of the putsch. Pablo Rodríguez, John Schaeffer, Benjamín
Matte, Manuel Fuentes, and Juan Hurtado sought asylum in the Ecuadoran
Embassy. From there they released a communique acknowledging that they
had promoted the attempted coup.(19) The military officers involved in
its planning were René López, Edwin Ditmer, Antonio Bustamante,
Mario Garay, Carlos Martínez, Raúl Jofre, and José
Gasset.(20)